Mold disk turning mechanism for linecasting machines



Dec. 28, 1965 KLEPPER ETAL 3,225,909

MOLD DISK TURNING MECHANISM FOR LINECASTING MACHINES Filed June 4, 1963 I 2 Sheets-sheet l 53 p I 59 M 52 /2/ O a i 7 7 WWW .HHH vi H 25 Z? 0 I? ,5 M

& & INVENTORS HERBERT KLEPPER BY WILLIAM B. A507! Dec. 28, 1965 H. KLEPPER ETAL MOLD DISK TURNING MECHANISM FOR LINECASTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 4, 1963 INVENTORS. HERBERT K1. EPPER BY WILLIAM B. Aaaovr ORNE Y United States Patent 3,225,909 MOLD DISK TURNING MECHANISM FOR LINECASTING MACHINES Herbert Klepper, Brooklyn, and William Barkley Abbott,

Pleasantville, N.Y., assignors to Eltra Corporation, a

corporation of New York Filed June 4, 1963, Ser. No. 285,309 4 Claims. (Cl. 199-52) This invention relates to typographical casting machines of the general organization represented in United States Letters Patent No. 436,532 to O. Mergenthaler wherein a composed line of character bearing matrices is presented to the face of a slotted mold carried by a rotatable mold disk, the mold filled with molten metal to form a slug against the matrices which produce type characters thereon, and the slug thereafter ejected from the mold and trimmed.

The rotative motion is imparted to the mold disk through an arrangement of gears driven by a large mold turning wheel which carries on its circumference a short and a long gear segment adapted to mesh with and rotate a bevel pinion. The short segment serves to rotate the mold disk through a one-quarter turn from the slug ejecting to the slug casting position, and the long segment serves to rotate the disk through a three quarter turn from the slug casting to the slug ejecting position. In the higher operating speed machines especially those adapted to operate in response to a coded control tape, slugs are alternately cast in two identical molds so that the molds can be adequately cooled between uses and overheating avoided. In such a machine the mold turning wheel carries on its circumference two short segments adapted to mesh with and rotate the bevel pinion, each segment giving the mold disk a one-quarter turn. With such an arrangement during one cycle of the machine the mold in use is carried from the ejecting position to the casting position, where it is filled with molten metal, and then to a position one-quarter turn from the casting position. On the next cycle the mold bearing the slug will be carried in two stages to the ejecting position where the slug is ejected. When the slug is being carried to the ejecting position, the mold diametrically opposite thereto on the mold disk is being moved from ejecting to casting position where it is filled with molten metal and then to a position one-quarter turn from the casting position. It is thus clear that successive slugs are cast in alternate molds.

The location of the mold in the slug casting and the slug ejecting positions is critical and, therefore, after each of the partial rotations, the mold disk is brought to a stop and positioned by the action of a friction brake and a stop motion device, respectively, and moved bodily forward to cause the locking studs thereon to enter a pair of banking blocks on the vise frame in order to effect accurate alignment in each position. At the present time, when the gear segment leaves the pinion, deceleration of the mold disk from maximum turning speed to rest was effected solely by a friction brake. The brake is constantly applied to the mold turning mechanism even when the mold 'disk is being turned. As a consequence the problem of accelerating the mold disk from rest to high operating speed is aggravated when the force exerted by the friction brake as well as the inertia of the mold disk has to be overcome when the gear segment engages the mold turning pinion.

It is, therefore, the object of this invention to provide improved means for bringing the mold disk to rest at the casting and the ejecting positions.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved mold disk turning mechanism that obviates the need of a friction brake to arrest the rotation of the disk.

In carrying out the present invention there are provided 3,225,909 Patented Dec. 28, 1965 ICC on the mold turning wheel and on the mold turning pinion gear means which are effective after the gear segment disengages from the mold turning pinion to decelerate the mold disk and bring it to a halt with the locking studs thereon aligned with the banking blocks of the vise frame. More specifically two symmetrical cam elements are mounted in association with the pinion, each element having an harmonic curved surface that is engaged by a separate cam follower, or shoe mounted on the mold wheel in association with each gear segment. Each shoe engages its associated element as soon as the gear segment disengages from the pinion. The cam elements are so designed that the mold disk is brought to rest after the disengagement of a gear segment and the pinion by the engagement of a cam element and a mold wheel shoe. The cam surface of an element may'be extended and a further shoe provided with each gear segment so as to bring the mold disk up to turning speed prior to the engagement of the gear segment and the pinion, thus obviating an abrupt engagement of the two with possible damage to the teeth of the pinion or the gear segment.

Features and advantages of this invention may be gained from the foregoing and from the description of a preferred embodiment thereof which follows.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a left side elevational view of a portion of a linecasting machine showing the elements of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view showing the mold turning mechanism just prior to the operative engagement of a drive show and a curved camming surface;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the mold turning pinion and its associated gears and cam elements; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 2.

The rotatable mold disk 10 is provided with a plurality of molds, usually four (not shown) and is actuated in the usual manner by a a driving pinion 11 meshing with the peripheral toothed portion 12 of the disk 10. The pinion 11 is, as well understood in the art, detachably connected to a shaft 13 so that it can be disconnected therefrom by the knob 14 and rotated by hand (when the machine is at rest) to bring any selected one of the molds into use. Shaft 13 is journalled in two housings l6 and 17 which are formed on portion 18 of the machine frame 19. At its rear end, shaft 13 projects beyond housing 17 and carries a small spur gear 20 which is keyed thereto. This gear engages a larger spur gear 21 secured to a short jack shaft 22 rotatably mounted in bearings in housings 24 and 25. These housings in turn are fastened to frame portion 18. At the rear end of jack shaft 22 adjacent gear 21 there is a small bevel pinion 26 and a steel block 27, the side faces of the latter being hardened and ground. Both members are fixedly mounted on shaft 22 by any appropriate means. The gearing arrangement is usual in that one-half a revolution of pinion 26 will rotate mold disk 10 through one-quarter of a revolution and consequently one and one-half revolutions of pinion 26 rotates the mold disk through three-quarters of a revolution.

The power for rotating the mold disk 10 is supplied from the motor driven main cam shaft 30 which also controls most of the mechanical act-ions of the machine by means of the conventional cams mounted thereon. The mold turning cam or wheel .31 is mounted on said shaft and carries on its circumference a long bevel gear segment 32 and a short bevel gear segment 33, the long segment being three times the length of the short segment. In

each cycle of operation of the machine, the mold turning wheel 31 makes one complete clockwise rotation (as viewed in FIG. 1 of the drawings), enabling the short segment 33 to mesh with and drive the bevel pinion 26 thereby rotating the mold disk through a one-quarter turn from ejecting to casting position. The long segment 32 similarly acts to rotate the mold disk 10 through a three-quarter turn from casting back to ejecting position.

After the mold in use has been brought into uppermost horizontal position for casting, the disk 10 is moved bodily forward and positioned exactly by the locking pins or studs (not shown) of the two inoperative vertically disposed molds, said studs being adapted to enter a pair of banking blocks on the vise frame 35 of the machine. While the mold disk is so positioned, molten metal is forced into the mold against the line of matrices for the casting of the slug. After casting, the mold disk is moved bodily backward to withdraw the locking studs from the banking blocks, and the mold disk is then rotated through three-quarters of a turn to locate the mold with the contained slug in ejecting position, where once again the mold disk 10 is moved bodily forward to cause the locking studs of the vertically disposed molds to enter the banking blocks. With this mold disk thus positioned, the slug is forced from the mold between a pair of trimming knives. The mold disk is again moved bodily rearwardly to withdraw the locking studs from the banking blocks and remains at rest to await the beginning of the next cycle of operations.

While the foregoing has been explained in relation to the use of long and short gear segments it is to be understood that the present invention is equally applicable to machines which cast slugs in alternate molds and which employ two short gear segments as shown in the Patent 2,744,463.

As previously explained, in order to prevent wear on either the mold disc locking studs (not shown) or their cooperating banking blocks of the vise frame 35, it is necessary to locate the disc 10 as accurately as possible before its advancing movement. Before progressing further, as can be seen in FIG. 1, the vise frame itself comprises a large, basically flat casting 36 which is pivotally supported on a shaft 37 carried by base 38 of the machine frame 19. The frame 36 is provided with a vise cap 39 through which, at each end thereof, pass vise locking screws 40 which are adapted when rotated by handles (not shown) to lock the vise frame 35 to the machine frame 19. To open the vise frame and make accessible the various components carried thereby the handles need only be counter rotated and the vise frame 35 lowered on its pivot, i.e., shaft 37.

Each of the gear segments 32 and 33 are fastened to the mold turning wheel 13 by machine screws 42. Also a pair of hardened steel shoes 44 are inserted in cut-out portions of wheel 13 and secured by screws 43. The shoes 44 cooperate with the sideslof block 27 and precisely locate the mold disk so that the locking studs carried thereby align with the banking blocks on the vise frame.

Such an arrangement is commonly called a Geneva stop motion device. During rotation of the jack shaft 22 by either segment 32 or 33 ample clearance is provided for the turning of the square block 27 (see FIG. 2) but after a segment disengages from pinion 26 the hardened ground shoe 44 will cooperate with the block so as to accurately position the mold disc 10. In the present invention the Geneva device comes into operation after the mold disc has been fully brought to rest.

According to the present invention as best shown in FIG. 4 identical cams 45 and 46 are, as shown, fastened to the rear face of gear 21 by securing means 48, although it is understood that they could be made integral therewith. Each cam is provided with symmetrically curved surfaces 50 and 51. The cams 45 and 46 are oppositely square block 27. Gear segments 32 and 33 are each provided with two identical camming shoes, driving shoe 52, positioned adjacent to its leading edge and arresting shoe 53, positioned near its trailing edge. As seen in FIG. 5 these shoes are each fastened to their appropriate segment by a screw 54.

The mold wheel shoe 53 cooperates with the cam surface 50 of cam element 45 to arrest the rotation of the mold disk and bring it from its high turning speed to a full stop after the disk has been rotated from ejecting position to casting position. Similarly when the disk is turning from casting position to ejecting position, shoe 55 asso ciated with long segment 32 engages cam surface 56 of element 46 to smoothly bring the disk to a stop with the slug containing mold in ejecting position. The curve of cam surfaces 50 and 56 is such that the speed of rotation is brought from rotating speed to zero speed harmonically. The follower surfaces of shoes 53 and 55 are cylindrically shaped and as such will ride smoothly on their associated camming surfaces. With the arrangement described the need for a friction brake to arrest rotation of the mold disk is eliminated.

The shoes 52 and 57 which strike the cam elements 46 and 45, respectively, before the gear segments 33 and 32 engage pinion 26 accelerate the mold disk to rotating speed and hence there is no shock as a gear segment engages the pinion. The surfaces 51 and 58 which shoes 52 and 57 engage, respectively, to accelerate the mold disk could be shaped the same as disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,638,- 792 but preferably the curve of cam surfaces 51 and 58 is, as shown, such that when engaged by shoes 52 and 57 the speed of rotation of mold disk 10 is brought harmonically from zero speed to full turning speed.

In operation, the mechanism is shown in the drawings in the normal at rest position where the mold in use is located at the ejecting position. At the start of a cycle when main cam shaft 30 and mold wheel 31 start to rotate, shoe 52 immediately engages cam surface 51 to bring mold disk to full rotating speed. The change of speed from zero to maximum speed is effected harmonically. When shoe 52 leaves surface 51 the mold disk is up to full rotating speed and gear segment 33 engages pinion 26 to rotate the mold disk one-quarter turn and bring the mold in use to the casting position. As the disk approaches this position, segment 33 disengages pinion 26 and shoe 53 engages cam surface 50 to decelerate the mold disk smoothly and bring it to a stop with block 27 abutting shoe 44 and the locking studs aligned with the banking blocks. The slug is then cast according to standard practice and then shoe 57 engages cam surface 58 to again accelerate the mold disk to full rotating speed. When this speed is reached, gear segment 32 engages pinion 26 to give the mold disk a three-quarter turn to bring the mold containing the slug to ejecting position where the slug is ejected to a receiving galley. Near the end of this movement segment 32 disengages the pinion and shoe 55 engages ca-m surface 56 to bring the mold disk to a halt. Again block 27 will abut shoe 44 to fix the precise location of the mold disk so that the locking studs are aligned with the banking blocks. It will suffice to repeat again that segment 32 could be replaced by a shorter segment corresponding to the length of segment 33 in which event the mold disk will be given successive one-quarter turns as when resort is had to alternate mold casting.

It is thus seen that the present invention, by use of the aforementioned cam elements provides a smooth transition from one operative position to another which results in a reduction of noise and wear on the components of the mold turning mechanism and obviates the need for a friction brake.

It is to be understood that many changes and variations can be made to the preferred embodiment disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, if pinion 26 were to make one complete disposed and are situated adjacent to pp sides f re olut on for each one-quarter turn of mold disk 10 cam element 45 could be eliminated. Also the particular shape of the cam surfaces could be modified. Therefore, the foregoing specification and the drawings are to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In or for a typographical linecasting machine having an intermittently rotatable mold disk and means for rotating said disk, said means including a pinion, a pinion shaft on which said pinion is fixedly mounted, .a power driven mold wheel, and a gear segment carried by said wheel for engaging said pinion to intermittently rotate the pinion shaft and the mold disk, the combination therewith of a member carried by said mold wheel means secured to said pinion shaft for rotation therewith, and a cam element connected to said means in a position to be engaged by said member after said gear segment disengages from said pinion, said cam element being shaped to gradually arrest the rotation of said pinion shaft and bring said mold disk to a stop in a fixed position.

2. The combination according to claim 1 including a second member carried by said mold wheel and a second cam element connected to said means in a position to be engaged by said second member before the gear segment engages the pinion, said second cam element being shaped to initiate and gradually increase the speed of rotation of the pinion shaft to the speed established when the gear segment is in engagement with the pinion.

3. In or for a typographical linecasting machine having an intermittently rotatable mold disk, mold disk turning mechanism comprising a mold disk engaging pinion, a shaft rotatably mounted on the machine frame on which said engaging pinion is slideably mounted, a first spur gear secured to said shaft, a second shaft rotatably mounted on the machine frame, a second spur gear secured to said second shaft for meshing with said first spur gear, a driving pinion secured to said second shaft, an aligning block connected to said second shaft, a cam element secured to said second spur gear, a power driven mold wheel, a gear segment secured to said mold wheel for engaging said driving pinion to rotate said mold disk, an aligning shoe fastened to said mold wheel for contacting said aligning block to fix the arrested position of said mold disk, and a member carried by said mold wheel in a position to engage said cam element after said gear segment disengages said driving pinion, said cam element being shaped to gradually arrest the rotation of said mold disk so that said mold disk is halted when the aligning shoe is brought into contact with the aligning block.

4. Mold disk turning mechanism according to claim 3 including a second cam element connected to the second spur gear, and a second member carried by the mold wheel in a position to engage said second cam element before said gear segment engages the driving pinion, said second cam element being shaped to initiate and gradually increase the speed of rotation of the pinion shaft to the speed established when the gear segment is in engagement with the driving pinion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,638,792 5/1935 Hilpman 74-435 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN OF FOR A TYPOGRAPHICAL LINECASTING MACHINE HAVING AN INTERMITTENTLY ROTATABLE MOLD DISK AND MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID DISK, SAID MEANS INCLUDING A PINION, A PINION SHAFT ON WHICH SAID PINION IF FIXEDLY MOUNTED, A POWER DRIVEN MOLD WHEEL, AND A GEAR SEGMENT CARRIED BY SAID WHEEL FOR ENGAGING SAID PINTON TO INTERMITTENTLY ROTATE THE PINION SHAFT AND THE MOLD DISK, THE COMBINATION THEREWITH OF A MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID MOLD WHEEL MEANS SECURED TO SAID PINION SHAFT FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, AND A CAM ELEMENT CONNECTED TO SAID MEANS IN A POSITION TO BE ENGAGED BY SAID MEMBER AFTER SAID GEAR SEGMENT DISENGAGES FROM SAID PINION, SAID CAM ELEMENT BEING SHAPED TO GRADUALLY ARREST THE ROTATION OF SID PINION SHAFT AND BRING SAID MOLD DISK TO A STOP IN A FIXED POSITION. 